How NOT to Write the Worst Fanfiction Ever
by A Ravenclaw in RiverClan
Summary: This a guide on how to write Warriors fanfictions! I will write about many different topics, including: genres, plot, building clans, how to write summaries, and much more! My first fanfiction.
1. Genres

Hello, and welcome to…

(drum roll)

How NOT to Write the **Worst** Fanfiction Ever!

(applause)

In this guide, I will show you the basics and backbones to a good Warriors fanfiction! In each chapter, I will show some horrible stories (written by me) and explain how to do better! In addition, I will list what you need to do to write a good fanfiction. There will be many different lessons/themes for the chapters. Here are the things that will be covered:

Genres

Plot

Building Clans

Building Characters

Characters You Need!

Subplots/Sub-genres

Title/Summary

Important Info.

First Chapter and Prologue

Middle Chapters and Twists

Conclusion/Epilogue

…And more! You can suggest the themes or lessons you would like me to write.

Today's chapter will be about Genres! I hope you enjoy!

 **Warning** : if you have one of these fanfictions I mention up, then please; don't take down your story just because I said they could be bad! Some people, like me, actually enjoy these stories!

I think ever story is beautiful and unique, so please, just because I described your story up there does not mean it is bad, or the worst fanfiction ever. This guide is too help people get better, including me!

The first thing you need to do when writing a fanfic is coming up with a genre! Think about what you want to write about, and what you want to tell in the story. Will it be a dramatic romance? A heroic adventure? A life-story? A spine-tingling mystery?

 **Romance:**

So, you want to write a romance? These stories have fights for the she-cat, loving sacrifices, and-most importantly-DEATH!

Or, maybe, you can jump off that bandwagon and come up with a better idea!

Get away from those cliché love triangles and try something different. A web is a more realistic choice to write about: people can have more than one crush, and not everybody is in love with one person. Keep in mind: if your main character has too many romantic interests, they could quickly become a dreaded Mary-Sue!

Yes, all romance needs a bit of drama; it makes the story unrealistic if everything is happy for the couple! However, if there is too much drama, the story can become impractical! The reader will shout at their screen, "Why are they still together!?" Be sure to include "fluff" These are parts of the story that's happy for the couple, and that will bring a smile to the reader's face.

Now it will be story time!

Story 1 Basis:

 _This story is a romance fanfiction. The Glitterstar has two toms fighting over her. One of them is from another clan and-_

Stop! Please, stop. It sounds like an unappealing fanfiction. What did I say about love triangles?! And-although I didn't mention it before- inter-clan love can be cheesy and horrible if it is not correctly. I advise you to, at most, have 1 pair of code-breaking lovers. True, they are added into the Warriors books, but as more of a twist, or surprise. So please, keep it that way.

Story 2 Basis:

 _Another romance fanfic. Here, the Sparrowfeather has a crush on her best friend's brother, Thistlefur, who secretly likes her sister, Quialwing! When she finds out, she decides to stop perusing him and move on. Now, however, she watches Quailwing and him fall in love, and it sickens her. Sparrowfeather knows she can't live like this any longer: so she resorts to breaking the Warrior Code._

 _She resorts to murder…_

…I am speechless. How in the world did I come up with THAT in a minute…? My mind must be a dark place…

Anyways, I have never seen a fanfic like that before; hence why I am so proud of myself. This synopsis would intrigue the reader, not scare them away. And, this is defiantly not a Mary-Sue (as long as she doesn't visit the Dark Forest and become a different kind of 'Sue, but that is for the Mary-Sue chapter).

So, overall, we learned:

Steer clear of love triangles

Try "love webs"

Fluff + nothing else= Boring Fanfiction

Drama + nothing else=Readers Smacking Their Head on Their Computers

Fluff + Drama = Good Fanfiction!

That wraps it up for romance! Please make your way to the next part of this chapter…

 **Adventure:**

Ah… yes. The most common genre in the history of the universe (more or less). These fanfictions include a strong, daring- and overall perfect- heroine, a powerful villain, and a quest to save the entire clan!

Just, please, don't.

I've seen too many fanfictions crash and burn because Somethingstar was destined to save the clans! And then nobody reviewed.

I, myself, have written a boat load of these! (cough, cough) Whitepaw and Frostpaw. (clears throat). I will be writing about how to fix or avoid these types of stories in later chapters, but just hang onto your seats for now.

Moving on! Now I will _actually_ talk about adventure stories!

First off: writing about how the Dark Forest rises up again and the main character must save the clan is cliché, and you want your story to stand out. Second, I advise you to be very careful about prophecies. I'll talk about these more in later chapters. My advice for you now is to avoid putting the character's prefix in the prophecy, revealing who it's about to everybody!

Now, all adventure stories don't have to be about how a group of cats leave the clan to save them, but it can be usable. Adventures can happen within the clans. For example, if a group or powerful individual joins the territory near the clans, it can be considered an adventure! The entire Warriors series were adventure, but they don't leave the clans for a lot of the books.

Most life stories, to me, are considered "adventure". This is because _life_ is an adventure! So, a life story would be under this category. A warning for life stories is to have it be realistic. Your character does _not_ need to save the clans, become leader, or be in a prophecy to be entertaining or considered an adventure!

Story Time (again)!

Story 1 Basis:

 _Cherrystar receives a prophecy from StarClan that tells her that her daughter, Rowankit, will save the clans! The Dark Forests is rising up again, and only Rowanstar holds the power to save them all! (she can't be hurt in battle)_

Well than… First off, Rowankit can just be a warrior in this story: she doesn't need to be leader at all. Also, StarClan sent _Cherrystar_ a prophecy that would come true after her daughter grows up and she dies?! Why in the world would StarClan do that?! In addition, the Hunters already wrote about that power! (I won't say _who_ as some people haven't gotten that far in the series yet).

Story 2 Basis:

 _Harerunner is warned by a rogue that a deadly pack of dogs are going to settle by the clans. Harerunner knows that the dogs must be stopped before they reach the clans. However, he realized that if he were to tell his clan mates, no one would believe him. Harerunner must join the strange group of rogues if the dogs are to be stopped. Without his family, friends, or StarClan on his side, Harerunner must do the impossible…_

Whoa! I would actually _love_ to write or read this story! Let's see; this story excludes a prophecy, or the approval of StarClan. From up front, we can tell Harerunner is NOT a Gary-Stu, as not everybody is on his side! Also, it never mentions if he "has the power to save the clans", but some of that is implied, so don't worry if your story has that!

Well, that's it for adventure! Here's a quick summary of what I wrote:

Try to avoid having the Dark Forest rise again

Your main character doesn't have to be leader

An adventure can be inside or away from the clans

Life stories are usually considered adventure

That's all the genres I could think to write about-for now. This is already over 1,000 words, which is more than I expected. The next chapter will be about good plots (which I kind of did today)! If you have any suggestions for future chapters, please tell me! Don't forget to favorite, follow, and review (it would make my day!).

QOTD: What is your favorite genre to write and why?

Thank you so much again for reading my story! I hope you have a fantastic day!


	2. Plots

Hello, and welcome back to "How NOT to Write the Worst Fanfiction Ever"! Sorry I updated so late! But before I start, I'd like to reply to the comments from last chapter.

Guest: Thanks! I like writing adventure, too.

Snowfall16: Thank you! I'm looking forward to writing about summaries.

Macygracie: Thank you so much!

Doodle Knight: Thank you!

XXwintershadowsXX: Thank you for the suggestion! I like reading fantasy and adventure, too.

KajkaElina: It's here It's here It's here It's here It's here! Haha

Today's topic will be… plots! Yes, the part of writing where even a good writer can make a tragic mistake. There are many ways to come up with different plots, but everyone must be careful.

Personally, I have a list of plots I might use. Night is the time where lots of people's creative juices start flowing, so if you have one of your own, I recommend having it accessible at night.

A lot of the "plots" I have are more of sub-plots; small conflicts or scenario to move the story along. A warning about these: it is hard to write an entire book off of one of them. If you want your fanfiction to be interesting, have lots of these "mini-plots". To identify them, just think about a one-shot: these sub-plots can be used to write a one-chapter story.

Even simple things can pass as plots. Here are some ideas that can be used:

-The leader is too sick to lead the clan, so the deputy must lead the clan

-A rogue starts trouble in the clan

-Tensions arise between two clans

-A clan is left without a medicine cat

The list goes on. As you can tell, writing large stories would be hard with just one of these plots. Combine them all, and add a few in, and _that_ would be a good story!

 **Life Stories:**

Life stories always, _always_ have a good plot. Why are you writing about this character? They must have some sort of exciting life. Erin Hunter wouldn't make a story on Frostfur, or Willowpelt. Why not? They didn't lead an exciting life like Bluestar, Firestar, or Ravenpaw did. So these three characters got their own story, but the other two did not.

Also to keep in mind in the original Warriors books, all had more than one plot. Let's take a look at Dawn of the Clans: Path of Stars. **(SPOILER WARNING)** Not only are the cats trying to beat Slash, but each point of view has their own "sub-plot": Thunder falls in love, and Gray Wing is going to have his own kits. Erin chose Thunder, Gray Wing, and Clear Sky to have their own point of views because something was going on with them, making their story interesting. I wouldn't expect a story from the point of view of River Ripple, as he seems happy and content with life. No interesting plot there, sorry. (No hate to him though, RiverClan is my favorite clan). ( **END OF SPOILERS)**

Now, my favorite part: I'll be making up some bad plots so I can make them good!

Story 1 Basis:

 _Everybody wonders about how WindClan split between tunnelers and moor runners. Turns out, Tunnelpaw discovers tunnels in WindClan. He must fight so that tunnelers are respected, and gain his trust of his clanmates. Follow young Tunnelpaw as he grows to become Tunnelstar…_

First off, according to Warrior Cat Wiki, Moth Flight's Vision, and Tallstar's Revenge, the tunnels were discovered before Tunnelpaw would have been born. Second, if the tunnels were never found, then why did his parents name him _Tunnel_ kit? I do like the overall plot, how WindClan split between tunnelers and moor runners. So let's work off of that!

Story 2 Basis:

 _Tunnelers and moor runners. Ying and Yang. Fire and water. They are so different, so how did they come to be? How did Brackenpaw split WindClan after a horrible accident? His clan, his family, will be divided. Runners think that tunnelers are wasting time. Tunnelers think that runners should adapt to the new WindClan life. It seems as though WindClan will never find peace again._

This is much better! See how Brackenpaw didn't _discover_ the tunnels, but he did split the clan? There are many different sub-plots that the writer can put in here. What is happening in the other clans? What was this "horrible accident"? Is Brackenpaw for or against tunneling? And so on.

In addition, Brackenpaw has an "exciting" life, just like Bluestar, Firestar, or Ravenpaw had. He is influential to the clan from an early age. Also, his clan is in a period of change and transition right now, so sub-plots will be easier to come up with.

Now, let's look at a story that is not a life story, but a fanfiction about an entire clan.

Story 3 Basis:

 _ThunderClan's leader and deputy both died. Who will be the new leader? They receive the prophecy, "Glitter will lead the clan,". But how can Glitterkit, now Glitterstar lead when she's only a kit? StarClan gives her many powers for her to use. Watch as Glitterstar leads ThunderClan, Bramblepaw and Stormpaw fall in love with her, and Tigerfang tries to kill the new leader._

This, my friends, is not a very good plot. Would _I_ read it? Maybe. Would others? Probably not. Glitterstar is a major Mary-Sue. Tigerfang seems like Tigerstar 3.0, and Brablempaw and Stormpaw just seem like they're there just so Glitterstar can have two little sidekicks. And for the sub-plots-Bramblepaw and Stormpaw fighting, and Tigerfang trying to kill her- they are overused.

Story 4 Basis:

 _ThunderClan's medicine cat is murdered, and the crazed leader blames WindClan. ThunderClan's deputy holds a dark secret, and if it were to come out, the lives of two apprentices would be in danger. The new medicine cat wishes she were a warrior. And Ravenpaw can't stop hoping that he'd become a RiverClan warrior…_

Wow! I would love to write that! See how each of the four main characters are connected, but each have a different sub-plot? I've never see a warrior in a fanfiction want to be in another clan before. Also, the deputy's secret will keep the readers guessing, and good add a good twist in the story. A crazed leader with lots of power sounds interesting, as long as he doesn't become another Tigerstar or Scourge.

That's it for today! I hope you enjoyed it. There is a poll on my profile for what story you want next. Next chapter will be about building clans, which I'm really excited for!

QOTD: Answer the poll question on my profile!

Thank you for reading! Have an amazing day!


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